Updated: Website ranking Northwestern women on appearance taken down

Hang on for a minute...we're trying to find some more stories you might like.

Email This Story

Send email to this addressEnter Your NameAdd a comment hereVerification

A website launched Friday that ranks Northwestern women based on physical appearance as of Saturday night has been taken down.

The website, called Morty’s Angels, presents two pictures of female NU students on the home page and asks individuals to rank “who is hotter,” to compile a top 50 page. It also included a section encouraging people to email the name and picture of anyone that should be added to the list.

The top 50 page was changed earlier Saturday to eliminate the rankings and instead display a message reading “F**k this website.” Prior to being taken down, the website read Saturday night that “there is no site deployed at this address.”

Joan Slavin, director of NU’s Sexual Harassment Prevention Office and Title IX coordinator, emailed the site requesting it be taken down as it may be a violation of the University’s sexual harassment policy, University spokesman Al Cubbage said.

In the about 24 hours the site was up, about 224,000 votes were generated, a creator of the website said in an email. The website was taken down due to a request by University administrators, the creator said.

Associated Student Government and the Panhellenic Association released a combined statement Saturday night emphasizing their outrage about the website and commending students and the administration for the actions they took to get it taken down. They noted members of the NU community should hold each other accountable for actions taken in an effort to maintain a “safe and inclusive campus.”

“This incident, however, must be seen within the greater context of Title IX issues across the nation,” the statement said. “The responses to this website are valid reflections of the belief that the Northwestern community should be a safe and inclusive space for everyone.”

The authors of the statement recommended that students who wanted to discuss the incident further reach out to Dr. Renée Redd, director of the Women’s Center or Slavin, for those who want to take legal action.

Multiple students posted on social media about the site, and some have encouraged others to file complaints with the Department of Campus Inclusion and Community in an effort to get it taken down.

Before the site was removed, Medill senior Elyssa Cherney said she filed a complaint to take action against the site’s objectification of women.

“I think the website should be taken down,” Cherney, a former Daily staffer, said. “I think it’s more than distasteful, it’s harmful.”

Cherney said there is a need for more dialogue on campus about issues of objectifying women and emphasized that anyone should be allowed to speak out against discrimination based on gender or sexuality without worry of receiving backlash.

“I think it’s important for Northwestern students to know that people on this campus are thinking these things and do these things,” Cherney said. “I think theres a tendency to think that at elite institutions, people are somehow above this and don’t do this but that’s not true.”